China Times (www.chinatimes.net.cn) reporter Wang Xiaohui reported from Xi'an
In recent days, in the table tennis competition of the 11th National Paralympic Games and the 8th Special Olympics, the strong Beijing delegation has shined.
On October 25, the Beijing delegation won 2 gold and 3 silver results. On October 26, he continued to work hard and won another 3 gold and 1 bronze. Among them, the combination of Beijing women's team Xue Juan and Yang Zhonghui won the women's TT2-TT3 team championship, and in the same day's competition, Xue Juan won another women's TT3 level singles gold medal.
After the game, thinking back to the process of winning gold in the team competition, Xue Juan was still a little excited.
"It's a close win, 3-2 to win a set." Xue Juan said that after the tokyo Paralympic Games on September 5 this year, she first went into quarantine when she returned to China, and began practicing for about half a month in early October, and then went to Xi'an to participate in the Paralympic Games.
In her opinion, she has not fully recovered to the state she was in during the Tokyo Paralympic Games, and only played at the level of 60%-70% in this competition. Nowadays, it is still a pleasure to win the game. According to the reporter's understanding, Xue Juan has won individual and team championships in wheelchair table tennis competitions in major competitions such as the National Championships, the International Open, the Asian Championships, the World Championships, the Asian Paralympic Games and the Paralympic Games, and now makes up for the regret of not winning the team championship at the National Paralympic Games before, which is a personal "Grand Slam".
From "zero basic" to the best
In 1989, Xue Juan was born in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. When he was less than 1 year old, he suffered from polio and became disabled for life.
In 2006, a coach working in Beijing went to the local disabled persons' federation to select athletes, and happened to be seen by Xue Juan, who went to apply for a disability certificate. By chance, she left the coach's phone and often volunteered to call the coach for the following year to ask when she could start training. Xue Juan's persistence impressed the coach, and finally came to Beijing and practiced table tennis.
However, Xue Juan only started playing at the age of 18 and started late, and she knew in her heart that only by working hard and paying more sweat than others could she make up for the gap.
According to the reporter's understanding, the conditions in the team at that time were not good, there were only two tables, Xue Juan, as a newcomer, could only wait until night or even at night to train, practicing until the middle of the night was a common thing, and sometimes even slept in the stadium. Later, the coach was also touched by her hard work, so he practiced with her for an hour every morning at 5 o'clock in the morning. After lunch, Xue Juan then found amateurs to practice, and in the evening she practiced her own serve. Recalling that time, Xue Juan's biggest feeling was "lack of sleep". But it is this little bit of accumulation that makes her gradually become the best in the team from "zero foundation".
Since participating in table tennis, Xue Juan feels that her biggest change is that her self-confidence has increased.
"Before playing ball, I was a very inferior person, who rarely went out and was reluctant to talk to strangers. Since participating in table tennis, I have been in contact with more people and participated in competitions everywhere, and my self-confidence has increased significantly. Today, Xue Juan has changed from a shy girl who does not dare to talk to strangers to a strong person who dares to shout on the field, and Xue Juan's confidence is overflowing inside and outside the arena.
Anyone who has seen Xue Juan play will notice that every time she wins a ball in the game, she will shout "Thi"! Because the game is particularly tense, shouting out is also to release the pressure, calm yourself down, and enhance self-confidence. Therefore, teammates who know Xue Juan's habit, even if they are not watching the game from the side, as long as they hear her shouting, they know that she will definitely win.
Show China's strength to the world
At the Tokyo Paralympic Games, Xue Juan demonstrated China's strength.
On August 29, in the women's singles level 3 final of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, Xue Juan represented the Chinese team in defeating Slovakia's Kanova to win the gold medal. On September 2, in the 1-3 final of the table tennis women's team, the Chinese team Xue Juan and Li Qian competed, and finally won the championship with a large score of 2-0 against the Korean combination, which was the 73rd gold medal won by the Chinese delegation at the Paralympic Games.
However, Xue Juan understands that to achieve such excellent results today, it is inseparable from the guidance and help of coach Bai Gang for many years.
Bai Gang introduced that table tennis for the disabled is divided into 10 levels, TT1 to TT5 is wheelchair level, and TT6 to TT10 is standing level. TT1 is the most disabled at the wheelchair level, and TT6 is the most disabled at the standing level, sitting in a wheelchair and playing table tennis, not as flexible as a healthy person. Although it is said that wheelchairs are the legs of athletes, there are great limitations after all. For example, in sports, the right hand plays ball, the left hand to turn the wheelchair, for many years to persevere, many athletes left hand calluses thicker than the right hand.
Bai Gang was once a wheelchair table tennis player and represented the Shaanxi team in competitions, from the last place in the country to the world championship.
Over the years, from athletes to coaches, Bai Gang has been out all year round, only during the Spring Festival there are a few days of vacation to visit home, "indebted" to his family a lot, but watching Xue Juan and other team members win one championship after another, not only won the honor, but also contributed to the promotion of sports for the disabled, whenever he thinks of this, he feels that these efforts are worth it.
"Showing the style of athletes through competitions such as the Paralympic Games can attract more disabled people to participate in sports and help them get rid of their inferiority and enter the society." At the same time, it also makes all sectors of society pay more attention to the disabled group, which is my original intention to participate in the promotion of table tennis for the disabled for many years. Bai Gang said.
Table tennis is the national ball of our country and has a high popularity in the sports of the disabled. The National Paralympic Table Tennis Team has won numerous gold medals over the years, and has been prosperous for a long time, and the athletes and coaches have paid a huge amount of effort.
As the largest and highest level comprehensive paralympic games in the country, the 11th National Paralympic Games and the 8th Special Olympics will last from October 22 to 29, and the athletes of the Paralympic Athletes will show the fruitful results and highest achievements of competitive sports for the disabled to the people of the whole country on this big stage.
Trainee Editor: Zhou Nan Editor-in-Chief: Wen Mei